Avenue Q – The Musical
Avenue Q – The Musical
Music and Lyrics by Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx
Book by Jeff Whitty
Directed by Steve McKinnon
Musical Direction by Spencer Crosswell
Theatre Downtown, Orlando Fl</strong>
Masturbation, oral sex, even overtly Republican politics – you can do ANYTHING on stage so long as it’s done by puppets. This wildly popular show finally released the rights so small theaters across the country can take a shot at their own interpretation of this Adults Only Sesame Street parody. With an English degree and few other prospects fuzzy little Princeton (J.W. Moore) finds himself on low rent Avenue Q. The neighborhood is colorful but relatively safe, and he’s soon ensconced in a rundown building managed by a retired and equally broke Gary Coleman (Kendra Lynn Lucas). Here he meets equally lonely Kate Monster (Sarah Daniels) and the token humans Brian (David Brescia) and Christmas Eve (Christina Montgomery). Princeton decided he needs a purpose in life, and the Bad Idea Bears (Jamie Donmoyer and Scott Silson) push and pull him into all those bad decisions we all need to make once or thrice in life. It takes all intermission for Princeton to find himself, bang the stuffing out of Kate, and learn next time he should stick it out and get the accounting degree.
Not all the stereotyping falls on the People of Felt – Montgomery’s Christmas Eve is the hyper aggressive oriental dragon lady who dresses in take out menu drag and has never masters the tricky R’s and L’s of the English language. Brian tries standup; his gimmick is no underwear, which isn’t actually that funny. Meanwhile, the sound track is loaded with hits from the ballads “It Sucks To Be Me” and “If You Were Gay” to the wild “The Internet is for Porn” and the nearly heartwarming “Purpose” and of course, the hum out to the parking lot number “It’s a Fine, Fine Line”. The puppetry (MicheLee Puppets) was a blast, the humans and the felts mimed each other viciously, and if it’s tough to sing and dance as a human, it’s tougher to sing and dance and operate a separate corpus. Part plea for tolerance and part a celebration of the diversity of modern society, Avenue Q kept the audience roaring with laughter for two hours receive one of the most ejaculatory standing ovations in recent memory. Maybe the original was slicker or bigger or had better concessions, but this show is another smash hit production by the Steve MacKinnon/ Spenser Crosswell power pack, and cannot be missed. Just get the grandparent to take the kids up to Pinocchio’s; the little ones might laugh in the right places if you bring them along.
For more information on Theatre Downtown, please visit http://www.theatredowntown.net
